Becky M Newsletter

Monday 23rd May, 2005

I am sorry that I haven’t written anything for the last couple of weeks, but I have been quite busy putting things together for our Light Line comp, entry forms and the like, (obviously this is payment for my sins for volunteering to be the Competition Secretary), plus trying to fathom out how to get all the previous names and addresses onto a labels set up. It is probably dead easy for those of you who work with computers all the time, but for those of us who have had to be dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming, it doesn’t come easy.

Still I think that I have got it cracked now, so the proof of the pudding, so to speak will be when I come to send the entry forms out.

The weather is still playing havoc with trips with me cancelling more than I am doing, but, WHEN, we are able to get out there have been some good fish being caught. Although over the last week or so we have had some very neap tides, which has meant that there has been very little tide movement, so I have had to search further a field to get results. This has meant that we have fished in one place for one part of the tide, then having to move off somewhere else for the other part of the tide. It has been a bit of a pain but it has given me results.

I was talking to a couple of other Skippers last week who spend quite a bit of their time fishing the mid channel wrecks, and they were telling me that they had experienced very poor results over this last set of neaps due to the clarity of the water, and the lack of tide to make the lures work properly.

Just a reminder for any of you who might be interested, our Association is running a Light Line Competition on Wednesday 17th August out from Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, there is a £500.00 first Prize plus many other prizes, the entry fee is £45.00, with the entry forms available either from me, or from www.westwightskippers.co.uk

The competition is fished as a most different species competition with there being no weigh in and no size limit, and points per fish, the Association will provide the main line to be used for the competition.

Well that’s about it for now, it looks as though the weather is against us for the next few days, which is a pain as I was supposed to be taking a couple of anglers from Total Sea Fishing out to do an article, so that’s out the window for now, we will have to try again another time.

Tight lines,

Dave

Monday 9th May, 2005

Once again the weather has played a great part in the “great plan” by being its usual cussed self and influencing itself upon me trying to bring pleasure to the public by threatening to blow like crazy, causing me to call trips off.

Mind you it doesn’t help when the forecasters are changing their minds every four hours as to what the weather is going to do. It seems that they can’t predict a long range forecast any more, and that they have to up date in the short term all the time.

That might be alright for some, but for those of us who need the long range stuff seem to be left to make up our own minds.

Anyway I recon that I will have to get myself a genuine Isle of Wight Stone to use as a forecasting medium, as they seem to be the only reliable thing left to use. I done one trip the other day, well attempted to do a trip, the forecast wasn’t that good, but it wasn’t that bad either so we set off. Only to get halfway to the mark before I decided to knock it on the head as we were being thrown around something rotten. I felt bad about that as I had talked them into going, but for once the forecast was right.

When!!! we are able to get out we are able to find some good Black Bream, and the Mackerel shoals are beginning to show along with the Garfish. I have been told that there are some Tope showing, so I will have to get the “tagging stick” out again. It’s surprising how far they travel before being recaptured, some have even made down as far as the African coast.

That’s about it for now, so,

Tight lines,

Dave

Monday 2nd May, 2005

As I said in the last set of “Jottings” things are now beginning to improve on the fishing front, with some very nice Black Bream being caught.

I must say that I am very pleased with all of my crews that I take out, because they all, without exception, practice conservation when we are Bream fishing by putting all the hen fish back, and only take a couple of cock fish for themselves.

Unfortunately not all anglers believe in doing this, and want to take everything that they catch both hen & cock fish. It’s a shame really, just because the Bream are making a come back now, if we don’t practice some form of conservation, then we are going to be back to square one and see the stocks dwindle away again.

It is nice that we are having some settled weather at long last, but we have had to put up with some pretty thick fog at times this last week. Thank goodness for the electronic gismoes, at least they allow us to see in those conditions.

It was in those foggy conditions last week that I had a little Red Start land on the boat, he was a little bit lost, and exhausted, so I picked him up, put him in the wheelhouse for a while to recover, then lifted him back outside for him to continue on his way.

Anyway that’s about all for now, I will catch you next week.

Tight lines,

Dave